Movin' on up

Josh and I were laughing the other day about how everything has a 'graduation' these days. I had a sixth grade graduation, an eighth grade graduation, and obviously the high school and college graduations. We think preschool graduation is over the top (but ridiculously cute). In any case, Ben just finished up the 3-year-old class at his school, so this wasn't a 'graduation' but a 'moving up ceremony.' The kids filed into the room holding hands, plopped down in their respective seats, and then treated we parents to a few minutes of them singing and showing off their skills. We heard the clean-up song, the weather song, the alphabet song, they counted to twenty together, and some other things... I can't even remember. Anyway, it's been a good year of growth for Ben, in lots of ways - it took him most of the year to go into the classroom without giving me a problem, for one... but for two, he has really made some academic connections this past year that are exciting to watch. He loves to write his letters and is always sounding out things, or asking me to spell things for him. It's pretty cute. 

Despite the fact that this was not a graduation, they did receive a diploma, which made for a cute picture. 

 I love this one. Ben was full of cheesy smiles the entire morning. He'd go from mumbling the words to whatever song they were on to this bright smile, and back to mumbling again! Hilarious. Even more hilarious is that in the picture below, the seat next to Ben is empty because his little friend had to go potty. And then absolutely had to wash his hands. It was killing me!

This video isn't too exciting, but I had to include something live. :) Notice how Ben isn't really enthusiastically participating, but at the end he notices that Josh is recording him and smiles/smirks a little. Oh, my Ben.